18 miles and counting

So, in my last post I was complaining about the journey back from injury. It has been hard. I have been horrible about blogging, so I'll post a few today to catch up.

On April 21st my friend (and fellow running addict) Theresa asked me to come run 18 miles with her. I was scared to death, but assured by her confidence in me, I agreed. I was so amazed at my own strength when I finished!

Stats: 17.94 miles
3:13:36, 10:51 pace

I hit a pretty severe wall at mile 16 and jog/walked the last 2 miles, but I was thrilled beyond belief when I saw that train station!

At that point, I was hooked. I loved running the support of the running club. I immediately wanted to be a part of their training plan.

So... the next week, I was up again at 4 and out the door to run! This time, we went to the Road Runner Sports store in Carlsbad. We ran 12 miles (easy compared to 18!) and was very proud of my time (2:00:12, 9:59 pace). After the run we got to do my second favorite thing - shopping! What a great way to end a run! I felt that runner's high for several days. The run seemed so easy. Unfortunately, that feeling would not last through the next week...

Fast forward to May 7. The running club was doing 16 miles on a trail. Theresa and I decided that we were not going to do that. So, we took off alone and ran through Poway. It truly was the run that would NEVER end! With no goal in sight (except the 16 miles), it felt that we were just running forever. At some point my knees started complaining and I struggled mightily to finish. Stats: 15.25 miles, 10:54 pace.

Now the real anxiety begins. 22 next week!